About a month ago the Life Foundation was exposed by journalist Eddie Brock for human experimentation with alien life known as Symbitoes. These individuals were homeless and looking for work, but the majority of them perished as the Life Foundation knew little to nothing about the Symbiotes they were exposing the people to. However, one unknown individual survived the interaction as reports of one of the Symbiotes has been seen on the streets of San Francisco consuming people and breaking things.
These sightings first began shortly after the Life Foundations experimentation. Supposedly there were two of these Symbiotes spotted, but only one survived the fall of the Foundation. The one that survived only seems to come out at night and eats low-level criminals, leaving nothing behind. There is little-to-no footage of the Symbiote eating these criminals or even being out in the world because it destroys most cameras in the area. However, rumors have spread from those it has saved stating it calls itself “Venom” and only eats what it considers to be ‘bad guys.’ While the human hosting Venom remains a mystery, a question has been raised about Venom: Is he a villain or hero?
An argument has been made by the media that he is a villain since he eats people for a living and they view the killings as wrong regardless of who he consumes. Another argument has been made by those he’s saved that he is a hero because he is clearing the streets of criminals and protecting people from muggins and more. However, the San Francisco Police Department cannot condone his methods because they involve killing, something they do not consider to be the solution to dealing with criminals.
I would like to propose the argument that he is actually an anti-hero. He is not a villain because he is not killing for fun, trying to steal weapons, holding hostages, or demanding anything from the people of San Francisco. However, he is not technically a hero because the moral debate about the nature of killing is something that will never be settled and the SFPD cannot label a killer as a hero. It may motivate others to kill for their own personal reasons and not for the good of others. This is why he should be labeled as an anti-hero. Yes, he is killing people but he is doing it to protect others and rid the streets of criminals.
I would be curious to meet him and interview him to learn more about why he does what he does, where he came from, and how he exists within our society. So Venom if you’re out there, come find me.
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